Process of manufacturing steel-coated wire



(No Model.)

'F'. SEDGWIOK.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING-STEEL COATED WIRE.

No. 443,464. Patented Dec. 23,1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT Cl nics.

FREDERICK SEDGWICK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN SPRING COMPANY, OF ILLINOIS.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING STEEL-COATED WIRE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 443,464, dated December 23, 1890. Application filed May 11, 1888. Serial No. 273,602. (No specimens) To alt whom it may concern: long or continuous wire, and which I believe Be it known that I, FREDERICK SEDGWICK, to be'the best form of apparatus for the pura citizen of the United States, residing in Chi pose, Figure 1 being a side elevation of the cago, in the county of Cook and State of Illiapparatus, and Fig. 2 a longitudinal section 5 nois, have invented a new and useful Imthereof. 55

provement in the Process of Manufacturing In said drawings, A A represent spools lo- Steel-Coated \Vire, of which the following is a cated at either end of the apparatus, the forspecification. m'er containing the wire to be treated and the Theobject of this invention is the produclatter being intended to receive it after the tlon of steel-coated wire. Operation. Spool A may be driven by the 60 It is well understood that in order to sucbelt a and pulley a, and thus draw the wire cessfully convert the surface of iron into steel from spool A by a continuous or intermittent for the purpose of case-hardening it or othmovement. Intermediate said spools are the erwisc the metal treated, when immersed in vats or receptacles B and C, and the wire (inthe material or bath by which its surface is dicated by W) passes through both these, re- 65 converted into steel, must not only retain its ceiving in the first one its bath or charge of heat a sufficient length of time to enable the steelifying chemicals or material, and in the steelifying compound or mixture to do its second a chilling-bath. Into vat B, I put any work, but must also maintain a sufficiently of the known compounds or mixtures used high temperature to insure the active operain case-hardening operations, such as ferro- 70 tion of the compound or mixture. This feacyanide of potash, and the Wire comes in conture of the process has heretofore prevented tact therewith while en route through vat B its use with small bodies of iron, because of and takes up such a charge thereof as the their inability to maintain the heat at the time consumed in the passage through the proper degree or for the requisite time. In vat and the degree of heat present in the wire 75 the case of continuous or long wire the will permit,both time and temperature being length has also formed an obstacle to its beentirely under the control of the operator. ing case-hardened. In this invention I over- The vat C is located closely adjacent to vat come these obstacles as follows: I subject the B, so the wire may not become cool in its wire to the heating action of electricity while travel from one vat to the other. Vat C is 80 it is immersed in the steelit'ying material or preferably supplied with metallic shot, parbath by connecting it at either side of the ticles of metal, or equivalent small-sized mabath with the poles of a battery, dynamo, 0r terial c, which act upon the wire as it passes other generator of electricity, so that the Wire and free it of all bubbles, roughness, and adshall complete an electrical circuit and be hering material, and such shot may be sup- 85 heated by the current from the generator. In ported in a wire basket D, thereby giving the this manner I insure the presence in the wire cooling-fluid supplied by the pipe E freedom of the requisite amount of heat during the to reach the inclined floor at of the vat, and entire time it remains in the bath. To harden thus gain access to the drain 6. v

40 the casing of the wire thus converted into While in vat B the wire is heated to the 90 steel, it is only necessary to chill the wire requisite red heat by electricity conducted to quickly, and this may be done by putting it it from the dynamo or other source of elecinto a chilling bath as soon as the steelifying tric energy F, the wire G carrying the ouroperation is over. In the case of the continrent from one pole of the dynamo to the post nous or long wire this is conveniently done 9, with which the wire W is in constant con- 9 5 by drawing the wire directly from the steelitact, and the wire II carrying the current fying bath or receptacle into a chilling-bath. from the other pole of the dynamo into the In the accompanying drawings I have body of shot in vat C, so that that portion of shown a form of apparatus specially designed the wire under treatment which extends from for the workin g of my process in the case of post 9 to the shot in vat C completes the zoo electric circuit, and thus receives any necessary amount of heat from the dynamo. The electric wire B may connect with wire XV shortly in advance of the chilling-Vat, it thought more desirable. After being thus heated in the presence of the steel-eonvertin g material or chemical the wire may be then chilled in vat O or in any known way, so as to harden the coating of the wire. Of course, if the hardening feature should not be desired, the chilling-Vat should be omitted from the apparatus, and it short lengths or bodies of metal are operated upon the spools are unnecessary.

In order that no portion of the electric fluid shall be diverted from the wire N, I insulate the latter from vat 1 unless said Vat is made of noncondueting material, by means of the asbestus i at the openings through which the wire passes. A like insulatingplug LI may be used at the initial end of the rat 0.

Vhere the converting material is in fluid form itmaybe advisable to separate the two vats somewhat in order to give the coating of 1 the fluid which would then adhere to the wire a little time to harden before it enters the chilling-vat, and this feature may perhaps prove advisable with other kinds of steelifying material. So, too, the wire may be depressed below the plane of the wire openings in vat B by rollers or otherwise, if that is desirable, to prevent leakage at such openings.

It will be understood that I do not limit myself in the matter of the earbonizing material, nor to the construction of Vat for administering it to the wire, because any material known to be adapted to eli'cct the carbonizing or stcelifying result, whether in solid, powder, fluid, orgaseous form, may be 011% ployed, and the vat, which is only the instrument whereby the carbonizing material, fluid, or gas is brought into contact with the wire, may be changed to suit thenature of the carbonizing agent.

I claim- The process of converting the surface of wire in to steel, consisting in drawing the wire through a stecliiying bath or material and heating that portion of the wire which is in the act of passing through the bath or material by means of an electric current,sul)stantially as set forth.

FREDERICK SEDCMVICK.

Witnesses:

Enw. EVARTS, EDMUND Ancocn. 

